Macau Casinos Shuttered as City Locks Down and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Macau orders a citywide lockdown in response to a COVID-19 surge, mainland developer Longfor’s property management unit files for a Hong Kong IPO, and South Korea’s top pension fund manager reports a wave of resignations.

Macau Shuts Casinos as City Enters Weeklong Lockdown

The gambling enclave of Macau will enter a citywide lockdown early Monday, as authorities seek to contain a spiralling COVID-19 outbreak.

Aside from essential services such as supermarkets, healthcare facilities and restaurants selling takeaway, all other businesses have been ordered to shut for a week, with residents required to stay at home. City officials urged the public not to panic-buy food, asking people to make purchases at staggered times to enable social distancing in queues. Read more>>

China’s Longfor Group Revives Property Management IPO

Longfor Group Holdings’ property management unit has filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong to raise funds to expand in China.

Longfor Intelligent Living plans to use proceeds from the offering to make investments and acquisitions in Tier 1 and 2 cities in China, among other uses, it said in a draft prospectus filed with the Hong Kong bourse late Thursday. Read more>>

Korea’s NPS Sees 14 Investment Managers Resign in Six Months

The National Pension Service of South Korea saw as many as 14 professionals of its investment management arm resign this year as of the end of June, according to a report the pension fund submitted to Kang Sun-woo, a politician of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The report on Friday said 14 employees at the NPS’s investment management arm resigned from 1 January to 23 June, four more resignees compared with the same period of 2021. Last year, a total of 25 employees left the investment management arm. Between 2017 and 2021, 28 employees on average resigned from the investment management arm each year. Read more>> 

Institutional Investment in Indian Real Estate Up 14% in 2022 1H

Institutional investment in India’s real estate market reached $2.6 billion during the first half of 2022, up 14 percent year-on-year.

Investment inflows were led by the office sector, which accounted for 48 percent, according to a recent report by Colliers India. Read more>>

China’s Auto, Internet and Property Sectors to Rebound in Second Half

China’s car, internet and property sectors are predicted to rebound in the second half of the year as Beijing eases up on its regulatory crackdowns and new stimulus measures start to revive the nation’s flagging economy.

The mainland’s car industry is to benefit from government stimulus measures that support people buying their own cars, while the internet sector will get a boost from the end of a long regulatory storm, according to Edmond Huang, head of Hong Kong and China research at Credit Suisse. Read more>>

SPH REIT Kicks Off Reporting Calendar With Recovery in Tenant Sales

Thirteen S-REITs have announced dates of their upcoming earnings releases or business updates, with SPH REIT kicking off the current reporting season for the sector by issuing its third-quarter (ended 31 May 2022) business update last Thursday.

Of the 13, nine will be reporting first-half financial results for the year, while three will be releasing business updates for their respective periods ending 30 June 2022. Read more>>

Hwa Hong Bids Required to Be Confirmed by 25 July

Singapore-listed Hwa Hong’s directors on Friday said the Securities Industry Council has laid down a 25 July deadline for any potential competing offerors to announce a firm intention to make a bid for the company.

As of Friday, the property player had not received any competing bids. Sanjuro United, a consortium of shareholders that held about 20 percent of the company’s shares, made a privatisation offer for Hwa Hong at S$0.37 ($0.26) per share in May, then raised the price to S$0.40 last month. Read more>>

Robust Singapore Rentals May Cushion Rate Shocks

Singapore’s property market may not see a surge in mortgagee sales just yet, as strong residential rentals could cushion interest rate shocks for owners, say agencies.

“The rental market is still very strong, the impact may only be felt from next year,” said Edmund Tie head of auction Joy Tan. Private condominium rentals have been marching upwards steadily for 17 straight months. Read more>>

Chinese Stocks Drop on Threat of Renewed COVID Lockdowns

Chinese shares fell as the reintroduction of harsh COVID-19 restrictions at the weekend raised concerns that lockdowns could once again weigh on the growth of the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s benchmark CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks dropped about 2 percent on Monday as spooked investors dumped shares in response to the imposition of measures to halt the spread of new COVID outbreaks. Read more>>

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